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Updated: It’s Official: Jeff Weiner Leaving Yahoo For Accel, Greylock; Reports Go To Decker For Now

Jeff Weiner, Yahoo, At our EconSM 2008 conferenceIt didn’t come from Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), of course: Accel Partners and Greylock Partners jointly announced that Jeff Weiner is joining the two VC firms as an EIR, an unusual co-op position for both firms. His new role becomes effective in early September 2008. He will divide his time equally between the Accel and Greylock Silicon Valley offices.

Weiner will “advise the leadership teams of existing Accel and Greylock consumer technology portfolio companies, and will also work closely with the firm’s partners to evaluate new investment opportunities,” the companies said. More details in the release.

Weiner was at Yahoo for the last seven years. With him leaving, remains to be see how his direct reports at Yahoo get restructured…we laid out some of the scenarios here.

Update: The announcement finally has been made internally and the decision on structure is ... basically no decision for now.  Even though he’ll stay on through June, Weiner’s five direct reports—Scott Moore (media group), Vish Makhijani (search), Brad Garlinghouse (communities and communications), Tapan Bhat (front door and network services) and Nick Besbeas (marketing for the division)—will report to Yahoo president Sue Decker while a transition plan is drawn up. A Yahoo spokeswoman said Decker wants input from the execs and that Weiner will work with her on the transition.

Staci adds: I don’t know why I’m surprised but I am—not by Weiner’s departure but by the lack of a plan ready to implement given that this could not have been more telegraphed. First, other companies make the announcement, and now, Yahoo goes into some kind of holding pattern that increases Decker’s responsibility in the short term and postpones action. Why do it this way? Well, recent events with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) have sucked up much of top management’s energy and attention so this gives Decker a chance to look more closely at each of the groups Weiner was running before significant changes are made. But it also runs the risk of turning in to another diversionary saga.

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Jun 16, 2008 4:19 PM ET

Posted In: Industry Moves, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Venture Capital, Companies, Yahoo, jeff weiner

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Comments (1)

Jun 16, 2008 7:07 PM

Why not? If you don’t do well at Yahoo you automatically become qualified to run a company!

stone

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